EXCLUSIVE  Ipswich Town: Ed Sheeran helps select his replacement shirt sponsor.

Ipswich Town chairman Mark Ashton has revealed that Ed Sheeran was involved in the selection of his replacement shirt sponsor.

The Suffolk superstar’s Mathematics tour logo (+-=÷x) has been on the front of the Blues’ kits for the last four seasons, with over 100,000 replicas sold during the recent Premier League campaign. His personally designed pink third strip was a big hit.

Sheeran bought a 1.4% stake in his home county club last summer and is scheduled to perform three nights at Portman Road next month. However, with his long-running world tour coming to an end in September, he has decided to let someone else take over shirt sponsorship for 2025/26 and beyond.

“We secured and signed the deal several months ago, and it will be announced shortly,” said Town chief executive Ashton, speaking exclusively to the EADT and Ipswich Star.

“Ed knew about it. He was almost part of the selection process. Ed and I discussed it, as did the board, and we concluded that gaming (gambling) was not the right fit for this football club at this time. We are pleased with the people involved.

“The numbers are large. If we were a Premier League club again this season, it would have been the Premier League’s largest sponsorship deal outside of gaming. And it will be one of the most significant sponsorship deals in the Championship.”

The 2025/26 season marks the end of Ipswich’s four-year kit manufacturing agreement with Umbro.

Meanwhile, about Sheeran’s upcoming shows at Portman Road (July 11-13), Ashton said, “Ed was quite funny. I recall us being at the training ground about a year and 18 months ago, and Ed, knowing when his album was coming out, was pushing me for concert dates. He could have done it at Wembley or anywhere else, but he preferred to do it here.

“What made me nervous were the time slots we’d been assigned due to the pitch. I recall being at the training ground when he said, ‘Right, if you don’t agree to this today, I’ll do it with them down the road! (Norwich)’.

“I looked at him and said, ‘Really?’ He asked, ‘Can we shake on it now?’ Okay, done. So we shook it there and then. He was just bantering with me, but we agreed right away, and the juggernaut took over. Incredible. Three nights sold out almost instantly.

“This is an incredible opportunity to introduce Ed as a family member to this club and to this community. I can’t say enough about him, his support this season, his messages after games, and his attendance at games. It’s almost as if he’s an Ipswich Town fan rather than a world superstar.

“The gigs will obviously generate additional revenue for the club, which is always important, but I believe it will also, if not more importantly, elevate this football club’s historic brand to a global stage.

“I tell the council that I want the town to be the best version of itself. At times, I hear a lot of people talk about what the town lacks and what we haven’t accomplished. But I think with the (Fabio Wardley) fight (on Saturday) and the concerts, and the Premier League season just ending, we’ve got something to talk about, to put Ipswich on the global map, and I think we should all be very proud of it.”

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